A conventional sailboard is controlled by standing on the sailboard and manipulating a boom, attached to the mast and the sail, so as to control the direction of travel of the sailboard and other aerodynamic and hydrodynamic variables affecting the sailboard.
It has previously been proposed, in the case of a conventional sailboard, to provide a strain gauge on the mast so as to detect the magnitude of the forward component of the strain imposed on the mast by its sail. Such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,157,148, issued to J.H. Reed on Sept. 25, 1961.
However, the factors affecting the operation of a sailboard are different, in a number of respects, from those effecting operation of a sailboard.
Thus, a sailboard has a mast which is fixedly secured at its lower end or foot to the hull of the sailboard.
A sailboard, on the other hand, has a mast which is connected to the sailboard through a universal joint. Consequently, and in contrast to a sailboard, the mast of a sailboard is capable of rotating through 360 degrees, and the mast and sail of the sailboard can be inclined into the wind in order to produce a lifting component from the wind to reduce the water drag.